On the morning of October 7th, the unimaginable happened.

Since then, life in Israel has undergone a dramatic transformation. Overnight, people from all sectors of society have mobilized together and volunteered to perform a wide variety of essential tasks.

One such activity is a unique collaboration between lecturers and graduates of the Department of Photographic Communication Led by Prof. Moshe Caine, Dr. Doron Altaratz, and the Israel Antiquities Authority. The groundbreaking project, initiated by the IAA together with the Government led Tekuma (Revival) administration, aims at establishing a detailed 3D virtual reconstruction of the entire Otef, the Gaza border Kibbutzim, documenting the destruction and providing an indelible and undeniable fully immersive testimony to the events of that terrible day.

The project, probably the largest of its kind ever undertaken in Israel, involves documenting the entire area with a variety of imaging technologies, including air borne drones, Laser and lidar scanners, 360 panoramic cameras and a multitude of high-resolution ground cameras., alongside recordings, WhatsApp messages and testimonies. Together, these will attempt to provide detailed documentation from a large-scale land overview, down to detailed views of single houses, both inside and outside.

This is a race against time, as each passing day threatens to erase the evidence of the atrocities.  The oncoming winter, alongside the need to rebuild the destroyed homes demands that the millions of photographs need to be completed urgently.

Once the photographic evidence is gathered, a long and highly complex process of data management, image processing and 3d model construction will be performed, gradually building up an accurate reconstruction of the area.

The following news item from the i24 TV Chanel provides an overview of this important project.https://video.i24news.tv/en/9e44d596-82e6-4c4c-8a1c-96f84ae49bd5/content/6343960110112